So it’s Year 2 for me.

Before posting my 12 months on post last night I had a nightmare with the laptop and thought it would be necessary to buy a new one, but I resolved it in the end, I am posting the details in case it helps anyone else.

It’s a Lenovo G500 and it was frozen on the Splash Screen (black background with’ Lenovo’), thats the initial screen before it boots up. I looked at the Lenovo forums and the ‘experts’ views, they all said roughly the same thing, unplug everything, do a powerflee (press and hold the power button for 30 secs 3 or 4 times) then reboot pressing the fn key and f2 (some said f9, some f10), if that didn’t work take it to a service centre, it didn’t work. I looked at 20 or so pages and tried their soloution several times. In the end on a non-Lenovo site someone mentioned removing the hard drive and see what happens, so I did, it said ‘media not found’, I ignored that and tried a reboot pressing fn and f2 to get into the Bios, that worked, hurrah, pressed fn and f9 to reset the Bios, pressed fn and f10 to save, shut down, refixed hard drive, all working, 1st boot up took about 15mins though, but as a bonus it is now booting quicker than before, so I must have somehow got a corrupted Bios.

Ok so back to boating matters, I woke the morning with a spring in my step, amazed I was into year two, the weather was dry so at 10am I cast off, what a lovely day, dull but not cold, no wind, no rain and it’s mid December!

I cruised until 2:30pm mooring at Wheaton Aston on the Shropshire Union canal, I did not see any other boats moving at all, I took loads of pictures but here are some of the better ones!

Leaving my mooring behind and passing the Fox and Anchor which looked a very nice pub with a nice resturant, I should imagine it gets very busy especially in the summer, there was mooring all along the front and plenty of outside seating.

Just another unique boat

I next ran into a small fishing contest with only 5 anglers, they said because Otherton lock had been closed it had been very quiet and were a bit miffed to hear the lock was now open, but they all spoke and were friendly.

I then passed benath the M54 for the 1st time today.

Shortly after the motorway appear the narrows known as Pendeford Rockin' evidently it was what the old boatmen called it, and it is where Brindley's navvies hit a solid belt of sandstone, so they kept it narrow with a couple of passing places, like you would find on a single track road.

The view on approach, it's about 1/2 mile and you can't see the end
which is why you need passing places.

One of the passing places

Passing beneath a road bridge you can see the solid stone clearly.

Almost out!

Having safely negotiated that the next thing was Autherley Junction, the turn into the 'Shroppie' cuts back a bit so it takes a bit of boat control to get round and I was happy to do it without incident.

Immediately after the Junction bridge is a 'stop lock', you find these locks at changes of waterways, generally quite shallow, this one was just 6 inches, the idea is to protect the different canals water supplies, as I am going down the 'Shroppie' it prevents that from stealing all the water from the Staffs and Worcs canal.

Entering the stop lock, ahead are all the Napton Narrowboats hire boats.

Bridge 3 another good example of a 'turnover bridge', this allowed the horses to change sides where the towpath changed without untying the boat.

Passing Wolverhampton Boat club and below the footbridge was a now dilapidated gate intended to close the canal if necessary.

I just liked the name

I have looped around now so pass beneath the M54 again.

Avenue Bridge (10) was lovely, it leads to Chillington Hall and the owner would have made the canal owners erect a bridge he thought befitting of his estate if they wanted to pass through his land. My pictures don't do it justice, it swept around majestically with ornate balustrading atop.

Approaching

And looking back.

Next came Brewood with it's church spire standing out, it was very busy, probably because of the popular pub nearby, the Bridge Inn, so I didn't stop here.

Another couple of very different but interesting boats.

I bet the owner is more friendly than the flag suggests.

The owner said this dinky one was about to get a facelift.

The Stretton Aqueduct passing over the A5 which covers about 180miles from London to Holyhead, I wonder how many times I have past over or under this road.

Okay so yesterday I mentioned Kingfishers, this one teased me flitting ahead of the boat every time I got close, not the best picture I grant you, but after 5 attempts it's the best I was able to get!

My second and last lock of the day Wheaton Aston Lock, 7ft deep.

I was then happy to see Sue and Vic's boat (N.b. No Problem ) no sign of them but hopefully I will bump into them, Sue's blog is probably the most informative blog I've seen, the effort she has put into it with links and information is amazing, take a look, just click on the No Problem link in the brackets.

No Problem.

 Tonights mooring.







Wow a long post, but it was a long cruise, by my standards.

Totals today 10.5 miles : 2 locks

12 months on

I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain

I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end

I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend

But I always thought that I’d see you again.

{James Taylor}
But I prefer Willie Nelson singing it !

I have just realised it’s been a year since I set off on this voyage of discovery, so a double post today.

I have enjoyed it all, the good, the bad and the indifferent.

Meeting new people, sometimes very briefly, sometimes to become friends albeit only occasionally seeing each other again.

I have been impressed by the sense of belonging to a welcoming community and I no longer judge people by their appearance, people I would have walked past in the street without a word I now find the time to at least say hello to and often far more. I have been surprised at the willingness of most people to help others, whether just giving advice or more practical help.

Obviously theft occurs here on the canal in the same way it does anywhere else, I have been lucky so far, only losing a couple of bags of smokeless fuel, but just last week I heard about three boats broken into fairly close to where I am now, I think it happens more to the residential boats that are left unattended for long periods but not only them, earlier in the year I was told of a boat broken into when the owners went shopping, but it is no worse than elsewhere in general.

It’s been a steep learning curve and I’m still learning, I doubt I will ever consider myself a fully fledged ‘boater’ but I do think I am far more able now and far less nervous of what may lie ahead.

I have made some improvements to Quinquireme although there is still much to do, that will never change, living on a narrowboat is an ongoing project.

I have seen some beautiful countryside, visited some lovely towns and villages, passed through hundred of locks and bridges and seen some of the best of what nature offers with kingfishers and huge fish outside my windows.

At times I have been very cold and wet on deck, and very warm and cosy in the cabin, I have sat in the sunshine and watched the world pass by as I sip a cold beer, I have walked miles both for pleasure and sometimes out of necessity, I have yet to ask myself “what the hell are you doing living this way”.

It’s difficult to think of anything that I don’t like about the lifestyle, the major thing is missing my family, but when I can and do visit, it makes those moments more special, I have been blessed this year with the birth of my first grandchild Hazel and the wedding of my son Adam to Natalie which I was able to attend.

Here is a partial map of the network showing what I've covered this first year in yellow, starting on the Basingstoke canal at Odiham and finishing where I am today at Coven on the Staffordshire and Worcester canal.

So I move into year two with the same approach as I did for year one, go where it takes you, take your time, enjoy it, be careful, smile when it’s good, try to smile when it’s not so good.

In Coven..........

........and no sight of any witches yet.

A bit of a catchup again, while holding at Penkridge for Otherton lock to reopen I did some shopping and had a look around the town, the main street and surrounding areas obviously older than the now fairly heavily developed outer reaches.

For a small town it had its fair share of pubs, just before Penkridge lock and canalside is ‘The Boat’ 

further along also canalside is ‘The Cross Keys’ as you walk into the town you pass ‘The Star’ 

The Star

at the far end of the town is the appealing looking ‘White Hart’ 

The White Hart

and out on the main road there was yet another which I didn’t get a picture of.

At the far end of the town and close to the railway station stood St. Michaels Church.

In the high street between the shops stood this delightful cottage, great for shopping, not so good for parking and I wouldn’t like every passer by being able to look into my ground floor rooms.

Walking back towards the canal this cottage looked as if had been added to twice at least, the original section being distinctly different to the add-ons, it also looked as if it had been extended to the rear, making what was originally probably a small character filled dwelling quite a large, rather spoilt (for me), home.

I also snapped Penkridge lock.

I liked Penkridge, another town as yet unspoilt by huge developments and superstores, there was some of those on the outer reaches but the town center still retains a small village feel to it with small local shops clustered along the one way high street.

The weather has not been good so my intended move on Saturday was postponed until yesterday, before setting off I walked back to the lock and the local paper shop to get some postage stamps, on my return I noticed that the pound between the Longford and Penkridge lock had emptied, presumably someone had left the paddles up at Longford lock allowing all the water in the pound to drain away, I could see two boats high and dry where I had originally moored so I was very glad that I had moved up through Penkridge lock.

On reaching Filance lock (37) I could see a gate open so it was a simple, gentle, nudge on the remaining gate to get me off to a good start.

Passing a tree house that looked more like a shed had been erected and killed off the tree.

Otherton lock (36) was next and as I approached I could see workmen moving around and for a moment I thought perhaps the work hadn’t finished on schedule, but I needn’t have worried they were working on the adjoining bridge and not only that but one of the men worked the lock for me, I remained on the tiller, happy, things were going well.

Rodbaston lock (35) also in my favour, I was getting quite a smile going now.

The next lock (34) also in my favour and was another strangely named one, there is probably some reason for it!

Brick Kiln lock (33) was also in my favour, could this be my day, and then of course Gailey lock (32) was against me, but what a lovely lock, it has cranked balance beams because it is so close the the bridge, it made moving across the lock a bit awkward between the bridge and the gates but I liked it.

This lovely little wharf and service area also has an unusual Roundhouse alongside the lock.

I stopped and emptied and filled, had a cuppa and a sandwich and then moved on passing the Viking Afloat hire boats, lots of them!

Looking back towards Gailey Wharf, hire boats on the right.

No more locks for a while but there is a chemical works stretching all the way along a straight section and warning ‘no mooring or stopping’, who would want to? horrible looking place but they did tell you when you were past.

Looking back virtually the whole of this straight section of canal was bordered
by the chemical works on the left in this picture, probably 3/4 mile.

Hatherton Junction at Calf Heath looked a bit confusing in my guide book, with a now defunct Hatherton branch and a sort of cut back to Hatherton Marina, and then the main canal heading off towards Autherley junction, on arriving I thought I need to go right but it didn’t appear to have any signs and I wasn’t 100% sure.

I need not have worried, as I glanced over to the bridge on the right I saw the words I needed to see.

I continued on to Coven and moored just before the Fox and Anchor pub.
I phoned Martin on fuel boat Halsall who was due through tomorrow but he said he would be passing around 7pm tonight now so I asked him to stop for me, and at 7pm almost to the minute he arrived and topped me up with diesel, smokeless coal and gas, so I’m all set for my little journey to get through the Audlem locks on the Shropshire canal before they close for repairs on the 4th Jan until 11^th March.

Last nights mooring

Totals yesterday : 6.5 miles : 6 locks

All stop........

.........just for a while.

On Sunday before retiring for the night I checked my weather App and it told me Monday was going to be wet and windy with some improvement on Tuesday so when I woke on Monday I took my time doing the usual morning jobs, around 9am I ventured outside and it was bright, dry and windless so I checked my App again and it had changed to Monday being better than Tuesday, I decided to move up to Penkridge, casting off around 10am.

I was soon back below finding some sunglasses as the sun was bright and low reflecting off the water.

Passing Stafford Boat club and then Hazelstrine bridge no.96 the sun making picture taking difficult.

First lock of the day was Deptmore Lock (42) at a depth of 10ft 3inches deeper than most I’ve encountered recently.

I then passed through Acton Trussell, a small village with what seemed to be just a church and a very nice four star hotel, The Moat House, it looked very nice and very expensive but the sun prevented any pictures.

I was amused by the name of this cottage, well little things amuse me as I pass the time looking at my surroundings, in case you can’t make out the name I’ve captioned it.

Canalside Cottage, it must have been difficult coming up with that name.

The M6 runs through this part of my cruise for quite some distance, busy with people rushing about their business oblivious to little old me a few hundred yards away enjoying my morning.

Entering Shutt Hill lock (41) proved entertaining with the sun blinding me, I could see a gap in the gates so I knew the lock was empty and gently nudged my way in allowing the boat to do the hard work opening the gates for me, after entering a single lock when going uphill I like to nudge the bow fender against the front gates or the cill (very gently of course) leaving the engine in drive on tickover then keeps the boat in place and when the lock is full the boat nudges the gates open and starts to move out of the lock with me hopping aboard when convenient, well that’s the theory. This time the cill was just below my bow fender level and so even though the boat was hardly moving at all the violent stop as steel hits stone was enough to knock over a few items inside the boat, it’s this reason a lot boaters fit an extra fender beneath the main one, something I may do sometime.

A blind approach slightly on an angle, you can just make out the gap between
the lock gates telling me the lock was empty and could be nudged open.

Teddesley Boat Co. And Midland Chandlers are alongside Park gate lock (40) and it all looked very quiet with nobody around.

Just after this the canal passes beneath the M6 at a shallow angle making the bridge almost feel like a wide tunnel.

Longford lock (39) another deep one at 10ft.

I stopped and moored just before Penkridge lock (38) and then walked up to see how busy it was and finding that there was plenty of space I moved up through the lock and stopped on the service point to empty and fill before mooring on the 48hr moorings (14 day in winter).

I now have to wait for Otherton lock (36) to reopen after winter maintenance work; it should reopen on the 12^th.

Today I have busied myself, between heavy rain showers, doing little regular jobs about the boat, cleaning filters, checking battery levels and such. I have also started to investigate more fully the electrical system, intending to find out exactly how the boat is wired from batteries to distribution boards, I have a ‘live’ 12v cable in the battery compartment that goes nowhere, I would like to know why, and it must be a solvable issue J , well maybe.

Total travel:  4.5 miles : 5 locks

And finally, a joke that made me chuckle:-

Yesterday the wife asked me to pass her some lip balm, I gave her superglue by mistake, she's still not talking to me.....